Automatic switch for railways



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.;

(No Model.)

H. F. EATON.

, AUTOMATIC SWITCH FOR RAILWAYS.

No. 600,278. Patented Mam, 8,1898.

witfveases. W 52% l wnibn k [No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

H. F. EATON.

AUTOMATIC SWITCH FOR RAILWAYS. No. 600,278. Patented Mar. 8, 1898.

" Patent, Serial No. 576,094, filed January 20,

HOWARD r. EATON, OF'QUINCY, AssAoHusETrs.

AUTOMATIC swxroHFos ames.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,278, dated March 8, i898.

Application filed July 13, 1898. Serial No- 598346. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern: r

Be it known that LHoWARp F.'EATQN, of

Quincy, county of Norfolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in 5 Automatic Switches for Railways and the Like, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters and numerals on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object to improve automatically-operated switch devices for railways or other apparatus,whercin are employed one or more traveling cars or bodies adapted. to run in fixed or definite lines of travel-such, for instance, as the switch device illustrated. in my application for Letters 1896. "In the apparatusiilustrated in my said application, Serial No. 57 6,094, as the car approaches the switch its traveling contact passes upon an insulated section of conductor, which automatically throws the motor-circuit through the switch operating 'or controlling magnet, so that thereafter so long as the said 5 traveling contact is on the said section of conductor the operator by opening and closing the motor-circuit causes the switch magnet or magnets to be operated to move the switch member as desired. By such an arrangement the power of the entire current taken from the conductor by the traveling contact .is made available for moving the switch memher through the switch magnet or magnets.

When, however, it is desired to heat and 5!. light the car by electricity taken from the traveling contact, it is common to divide the circuit leading from the traveling contact on the car, one part or branch passing through .theheating and lighting devices connected a?) directly to the. return-circuit, usually the rails, the other branch'being the motor passing to and under the control of the usual rheostator controller operated by the motorman, so that while the motor-circuit may be entirely cut-01f, andthe motor stopped there is always a certain amount of current passing from the conductor through the heating and lighting circuit whenever the heating and lighting. circuits are in use, and since this heating and lighting current alone would be sufiicient to operate, under certain condi- .tions, the switch, and since this heating and lighting current is not under the normal con trol of the motorman, it is evident that it would be impossible to cut off the switch-circuit for proper operation of the latter, so that said switch would under such circumstances be practically uncontrollable.

The object of this invention is to provide, in connection with a switch of the class referred to, suitable means for preventing the heating and righting currents reaching the switch operating or controlling magnets to render the latter uncontrollable and in'oper able, to thus leave the said switch magnet or magnets entirely under the control of the motorman for operation, if desired, precisely as described in my previous application.

In the embodiment of my invention herein illustrated I accomplish this by introducing in the switch-magnet circuit a switch-com troller which uniformly shunts out the circuit magnet or magnets, this circuit-controller being responsive only to the motor or other currents exceeding the heating and lighting current. In other words, the heating and lighting current is not sumcient' to operatethis circuit-controller, but when themotorman, the traveling contact having entered upon theinsulated cond uctor-section referred to, turns on the motor-current, asin my previous application described, this circuit-controller will respond and sever the shunt referred to, throwing the switchcontrolling magnet or magnets at once in the circuit with the motor and thereafter controlling the same as the nutter-current for proper control of. the switch, said circuit-controller when the motor-current is cut ofi at once resuming its normal-condition, shunting out the switch magnet or magnets. impossible with such an arrangement for the motor-man himself to cut in or out the heat- .ing or lighting circuit, yet so far as the switch magnet or magnets are concerned the effect is precisely as though he could, for whenever he cuts oil the motor-circuit the circuit-com *troller automatically cuts oil from the switch magnet or magnets the heating or lighting circuit. 7 I

The above, with other features of myin- While, therefore, it is too vention, will be more fully elaborated inthe following specification, together with the accomnanying drawings.

'ssI

in thedrawings, Figure 1, in elevation, par-- tialsection, illustrates a sufficient portion of a car, its track, and thetraveling conductor to enable my invention to be understood; Fig. 2, a partial view of one form of switchoperating mechanismcmbodying my invention; Fig. 3, a diagram illustrating one arran gement of circuits, and Fig. 4 a modification to be described. v

Eeferring to thedrawings, in the embodiment of my invention therein illustrated, referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the car A is mounted upon usual wheels a, adapted to travel upon suitable rails a and receiving its motor-power, herein electricity, through a usual traveling contact, typified at 65 ,311- ranged to travel upon the usual conductor, typified at a mounted in usual manner upon supporting-pulsed. g The member to be moved, hereinafter denominated the switch member, (shown in dotted lines at b and fulcrumed in suitable manner,) is operated from the electroswitchmagnet C, Fig. 2, arranged upon a suitable as base o and having its armature c mounted upon'a carrier 0 constituting one form of switch-actuator and shown as inthe form of a bell-crank lever fulcrumed at c on the base referred to. 'A weight 0 acts to retract said armature when .thema'gnet is de'c'nergized At its free end the actuator c is herein shown as grooved vertically at 0 adjacent the elec-.

.tromagnet to receive one or the other of the hooked ends oi oi the connections or connecting devices (1 d, jointed at their opposite ends at d to the oppositely-extended arms d fast on a vertical shaft (1, mounted in a suitable support and provided at its upper end with a laterally-extended arm or crank d connected with and to shift the member 6 referred to. I When thearmature c is retracted by its magnet, its actuator 0 will engage one or theother of the hooks d'and will throw the crank-arm d and the member 1) into one or 1,;,' another of its extreme positions, and the direction of movement of the crank it is deter I mined by the particular connections or connecting devices 6? d3. For shifting these connecting devices, so that either may be placed in position to be operated by the actuator, as may be necessary, I have arranged the sliding shiftin g device e upon a support a, forming a part of or secured to the base 0, said shifting device being shown as slotted at e to receive the bolts or studs e, which secure-the said shifting device in operating position, yet permit the-horizontal movement described;

The connecting devices didiare respec tivelyprovided with laterally-extended lugs on arms at 01, back of which are arranged the upright arms of the bell-crank levers ff, fulcrumed a'tf. and having their horizontal arms connected by linl s f f with the vertim salty-movable levers f ,5 sunn t ff I fulcrumed to the as provided with pins or proj t m e w,

f tor-circuit.

adapted to be engaged by the gravity-weight or gravity-actuator f, fuleruined at f and provided with pins or projectionsf f between which stands the arm f fuicrumed at a point coincident with the fulcrum of the gravity-actuator f With the parts in the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings attraction of the armature by energizing of the magnet will cause the carrier 0 to engage the hooked end of the connecting device (1 and. swing the crank d on the member I) in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, such movement acting also by drawing back of the connection (1 to causethe lug al through the crank f and lever f, to

swing the gravity-actuator f 11 past its dead-- tion of the armature the whole will be "exerted, through the connection (1 to turnthe crankand the member 1) into the opposite extreme position. a r

I desire it to be understood that my invention is not to be restricted to this particular switch-operating mechanism operating as described, the same being used simply as an example to enable my invention to be understood.

'Referring now to Fig. 3, the current from the traveling contact a is shown as leading througha conductor 25 through the usual jaekknife-switch 26 to the point 27, where the line is divided, one branch 28 passing through the field of the motor M through the wheel wand rail to the ground or returncircuit, the

other branch 29 passing through the usual rheostat an under the control of the motorin circuit with the traveling contact when inuse--that is, they are not in any wise disturbed. by the opening and closing of the mo- Referring still to Fig. 3, h is an insulated section of conductor arranged as inmy previous application referred to, and leading from this section h is. a conductor 10, leadingto the switch-magnet O, the returnconductor 11 leading from thesaid magnet to line conductor a, as in my previous applicaw tion referred to. The circuit-controller 12-is herein shown as comprising. a magnet intro duced inthe return-conductor 11, its armaf ture 13 being normally retracted; and in con tact with the fixed contact 14 in the conductor 1o,'-.the;;pivot of the said armature being shown as connected bye wire 15 with the conductor 113- The magnet 12 is so wound or constructed that it will not respond to the heating and lighting currents or either of them, but only to currents in excess thereof, so that the normalcondition of said magnet,

I when the traveling contact reaches the seca of a predetermined characterization only,'ino the present instance the predetermined char- .tion, is retracted, in which case the heating and lighting current passing from the line conductor a through the conductor 11 is shunted across to the conductor 10, thence to the section. 72, and grounded without passing through ,the switch-magnet 0, thus leaving the latter entirely deenergized notwithstanding there is a slight eurre'nt'passing through the traveling contact. "When, however, it is desired to operate the switch, the motorman turns on the motor-current, which of course passes through the traveling contact a and the magnet 12 of the circuit controller at once responds, attractingits armature, breaking the shunt 15, and causing the full motorcurrent to pass from the conductor a? through the conductor 11, switch-magnet C to throw the switch, thence by the return-conductor 10 to the section h, traveling contact a wheel, rail to the ground ortojthe return. \Vhen' the motor-current is broken, the circuit-controller at once shunts out the switch-magnet until the motor-current is again turned on or until the traveling contact; releases the section h. In this way by constructing the circuit-controller 12 so that it responds only to motor-currents and not to less currents I am enabled to make and breakthe switch-inagnet circuit in the same ,manner as though there were no continuous heating, lighting, or other currents flowing through the traveling contact.

In Fig. 4 I have shown aslightly-different arrangement of circuits, and referring-to said figure the circuit-controllor magnet 12 is arranged in a loop 16, leading from the conductor a to the section It, the switch-magnet C being introduced in the ground 17, leading from the conductor a through the normal open contact 14 and ar nature 13. In this modification whenever the motor-circuit is turned on through the section It the circuitcontroller 12 is energixed to attract its armature and thereby cut in the ground-tap l7 and switclrmagnet C. The circuit-controller 12, it will be noticed, is responsive to currents acterization being a current or currents at or above a certain number of amperes.

In the previous description the magnet crating-magnet, my invention appl-yin g to it regardless of the particular work which it performs so long asit governs the work to be performed.

It is obvious that my invention is not limited to any particular construction of circuitcontroller being arranged in series circuitwith said conductor-operating magnet and traveling contact and responsive to currents of a predetermined characterization only, substantially as described.

2. A conductor, and a traveling contact therefor, combined with an operating mechanism controlling all the movements of the switch, and normally' shunted out of circuit with said conductor and traveling contact,

and a circuit-controller governing the shunted circuit of said operating mechanism, said circuit-controller being arranged in series circuit with said conduotor-operating mechanism and traveling contact and responsive to currents of a predetermined characterization only, substantially as described. a 8. A conductor, a car, a traveling contact onithe car cooperating with said conductor, combined with an operating-magnet and its armature, the circuit-con troller governing the circuit of said operating-magnet, said circuitcontroller being arranged in series circuit with said operat ng-magnet and traveling contact and responsive to currents of a predetermined characterization only, and an operating device .on and movable with said car for determining the'characterization of the current, substantially as described.

4. A source of energy and a traveling con? .tact device therefor, combined with an operating mechanism, and a controlling device governing the operation of said operating mechanism, said controlling device being arranged in operative connection with said supply of energy and contact device, and responsive to energy of a predetermined characterizationonly, and governing said operating mechanism for all its movements withthe full main current, substantially as described.

A conductor, a car, a traveling contact on the car, a motor also on the car and in circuit' with said traveling contact, one or more branch circuits leading from said traveling contact or motor-circuit, and containing lamps or other translating devices, and an 'operatingd'ev-ice in and controlling the motor-cirits movements by a current of the same predetermined characterization, substantially as described.

tact and conductor, a branch circuit on thecar and fed from said motor-circuit, a switch- .operating mechanism, and means to operate said switch mechanism for all the movements of the switch by a current of the same predetermined characterization, and without affeeting the branch circuit during simultaneto one passage of current through said motorcircuit and said branch circuit,substantiuiiy as described. I In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HOWARD R EAT Witnesses FREDERICK L. EMERY, MARGARET'A. DUNN. 

